A rooftop air-conditioning system for a rail vehicle is known for example from DE 10 2009 056 968 B3. It has a box-shaped housing, in which a plurality of evaporator units and a plurality of condenser units are accommodated, wherein a frame of the housing has inlet openings for the evaporators and inlet openings for the condensers. A cover, placed onto the frame, closes the housing.
Further rooftop air-conditioning systems for road vehicles are known from DE 10 2006 047 367 B4, DE 10 2012 018 272 A1 and from DE 10 2012 216 039 A1. They are respectively distinguished in that two evaporator units are arranged on both sides of a centrally arranged condenser unit, so that the condenser unit is arranged between the two evaporator units, which respect to a transverse direction of the vehicle. In DE 10 2012 216 039 A1, the two evaporator units have respectively a lower housing part, which are respectively added onto a lower housing part, arranged therebetween, of the condenser unit. In DE 10 2006 047 367 B4 the housings for the evaporator units and for the condenser unit are constructed in a modular manner in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, so that a varying number of intermediate modules can be arranged between two end modules. For this, the base bodies of the housings and the associated flaps for closing the upwardly open base bodies are able to be fixed to one another in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. From DE 10 2012 018 272 A1 it is known to cover the base bodies of the housings for the evaporator units and the condenser unit by means of hoods, wherein the externally lying hoods of the lateral evaporator units are mounted on the central hood of the middle condenser unit so as to be pivotable about a pivot axis running parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle.
Depending on the required refrigerating capacity, which is to be provided by means of the rooftop air-conditioning system, two or more evaporator units, or two or more evaporators within one evaporator unit, can come into use. It is usual here to arrange two evaporator units symmetrically with respect to a longitudinal axis of the rooftop air-conditioning system or respectively to arrange two evaporators symmetrically with respect to a longitudinal rooftop air-conditioning system, within one evaporator unit.
For example, from DE 20 2008 002 054 U1 a rooftop air-conditioning system is known, in which two evaporator units and one condenser unit are arranged adjacent to one another in a transverse direction of the rooftop air-conditioning system, such that the condenser unit is arranged between the two evaporator units. Each of the two evaporator units is equipped here with an evaporator which extends respectively parallel to a longitudinal direction of the rooftop air-conditioning system. The two evaporators are arranged here in a mirror-symmetrical manner with respect to a vertical plane running parallel to the longitudinal direction of the rooftop air-conditioning system, such that connection lines for the refrigerant are arranged with respect the longitudinal direction of the rooftop air-conditioning system on the same side and likewise in a mirror-symmetrical manner. For this, it is necessary to also configure in a mirror-symmetrical manner the two evaporators which are arranged in a mirror-symmetrical manner.
Accordingly, at least two different versions of the respective evaporator must be provided for such rooftop air-conditioning systems or respectively for the evaporator units thereof. The manufacturing expenditure for this is comparatively great. For example, in a series production, two separate production lines must be operated for the two variants of the evaporators. This applies in particular when the respective evaporator has two rows of evaporation pipes arranged adjacent to one another in the through-flow direction of the air flow, so that these rows of evaporation pipes are flowed through consecutively by the air flow. In addition, in such an evaporator, provision is usually made to connect an inlet connector for the supplying of liquid refrigerant to the one row of evaporation pipes, and to connect an outlet connector for the discharging of gaseous refrigerant to the other row of evaporation pipes. Consequently, the evaporators have preferred through-flow directions for refrigerant and air, in order to arrange them e.g. according to the counter-flow principle or according to the parallel flow principle. If, with two evaporators lying opposite one another, the connectors are then to lie on the same side of the evaporator unit, a mirror-symmetrical arrangement with evaporators of structurally identical form is not possible.
The present invention is concerned with the problem of indicating for an evaporator unit of the type described above, or respectively for a rooftop air-conditioning system equipped therewith, an improved embodiment which is distinguished in particular by reduced manufacturing costs.
According to the invention, this problem is solved by the subject of the independent claim. Advantageous embodiments are the subject of the dependent claims.